


Hall Monitors

by abiline (geekeater)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gen, M/M, everyone is an emo teen, i thought about the squad as hall monitors and this happened, joker/harley isnt endgame fyi, kind of like the breakfast club, more characters will be added, shenanigans will ensue, stupid hijinks, this is basically just for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-13 09:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7972114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekeater/pseuds/abiline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amanda Waller, principal of Gotham High School, has put together a group of misbehaving kids in order to reign in some of the misconduct at the school. In exchange they get a record clean of their past wrongdoings.</p><p>Friends will be made, drama will be had, and shenanigans will ensue.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Proposal

Principal Amanda Waller had some out-there ideas, sure. But they worked. She had been hired because Gotham High School needed reforming and she had made progress. Waller had proposed this idea early on in her first semester as principal, so she understood why they turned her down then. They had no reason to trust her. But it had been months and she had proven herself capable.

She stood in front of the room of board members with the projected images of six students on the screen behind her. "I'm telling you, if we take some of the worst kids and have them do some good, it will work. They have ins with different crowds and they can lead by example."

"How would you control them? What if they just go off and start vandalizing the property?" Asked one of the members of the school board.

"We give them a choice and a reward." Waller said, glad the school board was finally listening. She switched the slide on the projector to one of the student's files.

"This is Floyd Lawton. He is part of the rifle club and is the best shooter on the team. His grades are average in everything but math; where he excels." 

Switch.

"This is Harleen Quinzel, a varsity cheerleader. She takes AP Psychology courses and has told the guidance counselor that she wants to become a psychiatrist."

Switch.

"George Harkness, a transfer from Metropolis High. He has shown a proficiency in math and is very cunning, even if he is not the most motivated." 

Switch.

"Chato Santana. You may remember him from the incident about a year ago. Since then he has reformed himself. He no longer ditches class and his grades have improved."

Switch. 

"Waylon Jones. He is on our wrestling team and is very intimidating, he shows an interest in creative writing.”

“What do these students have in common?” Waller let the question sit in the air for a moment. “They have potential. These kids are not completely unmotivated. They have talents and work towards goals. They are smart. However,” She switched the slide again. “They have records that will keep them from their goals.”

Waller placed her hands on the table in front of her and looked each of the board members in the eye. “I propose we help clear their records in exchange for their help in reining in bad behavior. Nothing else you all have tried has worked. Give this a chance.”

The room was heavy with thought, the members looking at each other warily. No one wanted to be the first to agree. Until one hand rose and a shaky voice said, “I second Principal Waller’s plan to put together this group.”

Waller smirked as the rest of the board began agreeing.

-

Amanda Waller stood in front of the whiteboard of the dim classroom, her face narrowed. Before her were six junior year students. They were scattered about the room, unwilling to sit near each other.

The blonde girl sitting in the front of the room was chewing bubblegum and had Principal Waller cared enough about a petty no-gum rule, she would have demanded she spit it out. But it was the least of Waller’s worries, what with the school’s history.

Two rows from the girl sat a dark skinned boy in red who looked fairly unhappy to be there. In the back corner a red haired boy in a beanie sat with his feet propped on the desk. He acted as if he owned the place and Waller almost laughed at his ego. 

Towards the windows on Waller’s right sat a tan boy with his hood up, hiding his tattooed face. He stared out the window at the gloomy sky. Sitting in the center of the room was a large figure who also wore a hoodie and leaning against the wall in the back was a boy with long, dark hair.

Richard Flag, one of Gotham High’s best students stood at the door to Waller’s left. The rest of the teenagers were eyeing him warily; aware he didn’t belong somehow.

Waller began, “Floyd Lawton, Harleen Quinzel, Chato Santana, Waylon Jones, Christopher Weiss, and George Harkness. Do you have any idea why you are all gathered here today?”

The signature pop of bubblegum resonated throughout the room and Waller’s head snapped towards the source of the sound, “Well Harleen? Have you any clue?” She asked.

Harleen chewed on her gum silently for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak, her gum smacking obnoxiously, “Well it seems to me the only thing we all have in common is our behavior issues.” A distinct accent could be heard through the girl’s words, “But that can be said for half the school, so I don’t know why you singled us out.” Harleen leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the desk, crossing her arms.

“It also doesn’t explain why goody two shoes Flag is here either.” An Australian accent piped up from the back of the room. Richard bristled at the comment.

“You are all here because I see something in you. As Harleen stated, you all have behavior issues on your records. In your cases, these are preventing you from graduating on time. I am offering you a way to… clean your slates.” Waller paused for a moment to assess their expressions, “You see, Gotham High School has a very high rate of suspension, expulsion and general misconduct. Even with certain individuals,” She rolled her eyes at this, “attempting to put a stop to these wrongdoings, they can’t do everything. I am offering you all a chance to be part of a group that will end any plans before they have been enacted. In exchange, you graduate on time.”

Harleen spoke up, “Okay lady, I like what you’re selling but what’s the catch?”

“No catch,” Waller said. “The only demand is that you follow instructions and you are not to notify anyone of this group. If you do so, all of you will be expelled.”

The room was silent with contemplation.

Harleen stood up, “A cleaner record would make it a hell of a lot easier to get a scholarship, so I’m in Principal Waller.”

Chato spoke from beneath his hoodie, “I’m in.”

Then Floyd, “Fine, whatever.”

Waylon, muffled from under his mask, “Sure.”  
Christopher stood up straight, “Yeah, no. I’m not going to play your little hero game. Bye.” Waller raised an eyebrow and gestured to the door. With that, Christopher promptly left.

Eyes turned towards George. He rolled his eyes, “Aw hell, stop looking at me you bunch of twats. I’m in.” 

Principal Waller nodded, “Good. Your schedules for your senior year will be adjusted accordingly and further information will be sent to your student emails. In the meantime, I should address the elephant in the room.” She gestured to the tall student standing by the door. “This is Richard Flag, he is one of our top students. He will be running your team.” Richard gave a nod. “I suggest you all get to know each other over the summer as you will be working together often. Dismissed.”

No one moved except Waller, who gathered her things and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated this chapter a bit, I'm switching up scenes and stuff. Sorry for the trouble.


	2. Floyd doesn't get paid enough for this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I totes forgot to mention it before but my main inspiration for this was HylianFishFood's fic, Squad?. It's hilarious and a ton of fun to read.

The kids were left sitting there, staring awkwardly at one another. Floyd thought the whole thing was kind of stupid. But Principal Waller was a hardass and he’d rather not get on her bad side even more than he already was. He looked around the room at the people he’d be spending most of his senior year with and sighed. He barely knew them and he didn’t want to get to know them.

Of course he knew who some of them were, but no one personally. Not that Floyd made a real effort to be social. He was about to get up and leave when someone cleared their throat daintily. He looked over to where the infamous Harleen Quinzel was standing.

“First of all, call me Harley.“ She flashed a smile at everyone and then walked up to the whiteboard at the front of the room, “I gotta go right about now ‘cause I have to meet someone but I’ll write my number down and you guys can text me.” Harley began writing her number on the board in red. Floyd and everyone else took out their phones to enter her number.

“Okay sweethearts, I gotta go. See ya!” Harley blew the room a kiss and then pranced out, two-toned pigtails swishing behind her. Before the door shut behind her, an exclamation of, “Puddin’!” could be heard and then loud, fast paced footsteps.

“You know I’d totally hit that, if it weren’t for the whole crazy boyfriend thing.” George commented.

The silence in the room settled again and just as Floyd was about leave- again- Rick cleared his throat. Jesus, what was with everyone doing that? 

“So you all can call me Rick. Richard is kind of stuffy.” Rick gave a polite smile.

“In that case, call me Digger.” The Australian said.

“The hell kind of name is ‘Digger?’” Floyd asked, swiveling around in his seat to look at the guy in question.

“The hell kind of name is Floyd?” Digger retorted.  
Waylon gave a snort of laughter.

Floyd’s jaw twitched. “Touche, douchebag.” Floyd said. He’d admit he didn’t like his name. “Anyway since we’re now some kind of stupid squad, I’ll give you guys my number too.”

Floyd copied Harley and wrote his number on the board. Then Rick did the same, and the rest of the group followed.

Rick clapped his hands together loudly, “Okay, I think introductions went well. Uh, squad out?”

Floyd put his hand up, “Don’t fuckin’ say ‘squad out’. Sounds corny as hell.”

Rick raised an eyebrow, “Okay, squad dismissed.”

Still corny as hell but Floyd would take it. He’d also take his chance to leave. He’d already missed about an hour of Rifle Club for this meeting.

So he left.

-

Harley wasn’t a huge fan of this thing she’d been pulled into because it sounded like it would take time from her relationship. Speaking of which, she had a date tonight. So she wrote her number on the board for everyone and then left. Easy peasy.

Upon peering down the empty hallway she saw someone not too far from her. He was leaning against the wall in a maroon button up shirt that had about half of the buttons undone and his hair was a bright green. There was only one student at this school with hair that shade.

“Puddin’!” Harley exclaimed, taking off down the hallway towards her boyfriend.

He turned at the sound and upon seeing her, he opened his arms. He smiled that half-smile, half-smirk she loved.

Harley jumped into his arms and he swung her around for a moment before placing her on the ground and giving her a hello kiss. Whoops, her red lipstick was everywhere.

“Hi there Harley,” he said, pulling back with his arms still around her.

“Hi there yourself, Mister.” She giggled. Harley reached up on her tiptoes to plant another kiss on his lips.

“So Harls, I was thinking about tonight and,” He paused, “I have to cancel.”

Harley deflated, “But Jay, we’ve been planning this for a week.”

Jay cupped her face, “I know, but something came up. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” He seemed just as disappointed as her.

Harley sighed, “Yeah okay. I understand. Do you have to leave now?” Jay nodded and Harley removed her arms from around his neck. “Okay well, I’ll see you later. Text me?”

He smirked, “Of course.” Then he kissed her again and left.

Harley waited until he had turned a corner to let herself slide down the wall. She could feel the burning in her eyes and she fought back the tears. This really wasn’t worth crying over. She sniffled. This was the third date in a row that he had cancelled. Harley understood that Jay had his own life, she really did. But sometimes she wondered if he thought of her as part of his life too. 

She certainly considered Jay as part of her life.

-

Floyd was the first to exit the room and what he expected was a dim, empty hallway. The Gotham standard.

What he got was an emotional looking teenage girl and, fuck he does not get paid enough for this.

He doesn’t get paid at all. 

Floyd took a deep breath and walked up to Harley, who was sitting against the wall with her head bowed.

She looked up at the sound of his footsteps and- aw hell it’s worse than he thought- her eyes were watery and Floyd could feel she was about to start up a cry-fest. He didn’t need this right now, someone help him.

But Harley sniffed once and forced a smile through her runny mascara, “Hey Floyd, what brings you to this part of the neighborhood?”

Floyd raised an eyebrow because, really? They weren’t going to address this? But something in her eyes was pleading with him to go along with it. So he did.

“I was just about to head over to rifle practice. Don’t you have cheer practice?” He asked. She nodded and started to get up, “C’mon I’ll walk you there. It’s on the way. Let’s do some team bonding shit.”

So Floyd walked Harley to the football field, rambling on about whatever crossed his mind and made her laugh a little. He even patted her awkwardly on the shoulder at one point.

Once there, Harley turned to him and wrapped her arms around his middle, “Thanks.” She said. It was muffled by her face being smashed into his chest.

Floyd opened his mouth to say something because he does not do hugs, but she had let go and was running off by then.

Floyd looked down at his shirt. Great. Her makeup was all over it.

He put a hand on his face and sighed. This is what he got for being nice.

-

Digger was fuckin' annoyed. He'd had to stay after school for this load of crap? Some stupid teacher's pet squad? And with these fucks? He needed a smoke. Digger grabbed his bag and left the room. He went to turn right but saw some pansy ass comforting going on between Harley and Floyd and screw that shit. So he headed down the grey hallway towards the other exit.

Everything in Gotham was grey. Hell, one of the school colors was grey. Black and red were the main school colors but grey and white were secondary. It almost made him miss Metropolis.

Who was he kidding? He totally fuckin' missed Metropolis. His posse was back there.

What the hell was wrong with him? Getting all sentimental was not his thing. He really needed a smoke.

-

Rick watched the beanie-clad Digger exit and then looked back at the rest of the room. Chato and Waylon were left. Rick awkwardly rubbed his neck, unsure of what to say. Chato seemed pretty antisocial with his hood on and one earbud in. He caught Rick staring and Rick imagined that if Chato had eyebrows, they would be raised in question.

Waylon didn't seem like he was going to talk either.

Rick's shoulders slumped, he had known that these people weren't exactly best friend material but he had held out hope. He collected his things and gave a halfhearted wave good bye, then left. Guess it was time to go home. He'd text everyone later.

-

Waylon watched Rick leave and figured it was time for his exit as well. Chato didn't look talkative and besides, people didn't find Waylon approachable anyway. He was used to it and used it to his advantage. It was fine, he'd survived long enough on his own.  
He had wrestling practice to get to.

-

Chato Santana was not looking forward to working with this group. He just wanted to be left alone after what had happened sophomore year. It seemed like some higher being was cursing him for what he had done.  
He knew who everyone was, and that is exactly why he wanted nothing to do with them. It didn't matter that they were all part of some witch hunt group or whatever. He didn't want back into that world.  
He watched everyone leave and once the room was empty, let out a sigh of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I edited stuff and combined chapters. I think this makes more sense storywise. 
> 
> Can everyone just go along with any OOCness? These are high school versions of these characters. No death or anything is happening so everyone's gonna be a little less f'ed up. Lmao thanks


	3. Rick just wants everyone to be friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo to anyone who read this when it was first published, I redid the first two chapters a little bit.  
> Ok so before you start, I should explain how the format for texting works. Giant group chats will be held in a separate perspective. Just assume that the hyphens between paragraphs switch perspectives. Does that make sense? Let me know if it doesn't.

“Bye, everyone!” Harley called as she shut the door to the cheer room behind her. It was the last day of that school year’s practice and the team had decided to have a party afterwards. A celebration of the new team members and summer beginning, and a goodbye to the seniors.

Harley smiled to herself as she left the gymnasium and headed for her car. Jay cancelling had given her more time with her cheer team, so at least something good came out of it.

She pulled out her phone to check the time and her messages. It was a little past seven PM and she had six messages.

Harley climbed into the driver’s seat and scrolled through her messages, leaving the door open.

**Unknown at 3:56 PM:** This is George (call me Digger) I was the hot one in the beanie ;)

**Unknown at 4:07 PM:** Hey this is Rick Flag from earlier :)

**Unknown at 5:48 PM:** this is Waylon

**Unknown at 6:11 PM:** Floyd

**Unknown at 6:23 PM:** this is Chato

Harley quickly added them all to her contacts and checked the remaining message.

**Puddin at 4:33 PM:** thinking of you ;)  <3

Harley melted a little. She was worried their relationship was going sour but the text had convinced her otherwise. With her mood greatly improved, Harley tossed her phone into the passenger seat and started her car.

-

Once Harley got home she checked her email for the message Principal Waller had promised.

She paused.

She had two emails from Waller. One detailed their agreement and the other was titled URGENT.

Harley quickly clicked on the latter one and scanned it.

Apparently some people’s performances in class were improving at an alarming rate; people who had been failing beforehand. Cheating was suspected and the group was supposed to investigate. Included in the email was a list of the students whose grades had improved suspiciously.

Harley reached for her phone to see if anyone else had gotten the email. Surprise, surprise she had texts about it already.

**Group text from RickDicky sent to:** You, Aussie Guy, Croc, Skullface, and Floyd(lmao)

-

**Rick:** Okay this is a group text, everyone got the email from Principal Waller, right?

**Floyd:** Just read it. The hell are we supposed to do?

**Harley:** Investigate rite? oooh we’re like the Scooby doo gang. Dibs on daphne

**Digger:** Then I call dibs on Fred ;)

**Harley:** Oh my god digger ur CLEARLY scrappy doo

**Digger:** I resent that

**Floyd:** I resent all of you

**Rick:** Can we all just discuss this in a civil manner?

**Digger:** I’ll discuss ur mom in a civil manner

**Floyd:** Shut the fuck up Digger

**Harley:** stfu digger tht wasnt even threatening?

**Chato:** Rick is right, the sooner we figure this out the better

**Rick:** Thank you, Chato :)

**Chato:** We aren’t friends.

**Rick:** Oooo-kay then. I suggest we all pick one of the names from the list and talk to them tomorrow at school.

**Harley:** damn rick you got rekt… but also I agree with the plan

**Waylon:** I can take care of anyone on the wrestling team. It will seem suspicious if we talk to people we don’t normally talk to.

**Rick:** Good point Waylon :)

**Floyd:** okay stop with the smiley faces we aren’t friends

**Harley:** We could be ;)

**Rick:** :)

**Floyd:** I hate. All of you.

**Digger:** ditto

**Waylon:** I am neutral towards all of you.

**Chato:** I just don’t want to be a part of this.

**Harley:** Well Rick…. They r sum tough cookies… but I think we can crack them

**Rick:** Thanks Harley, okay everyone just ask the people you would regularly talk to. Good plan.

**Harley:** see u all tomorrow  <3 <3

**Floyd:** Or not

**Harley:** :(

-

Harley’s phone vibrated, signally another text message. She opened it.

**Puddin at 8:23 PM:** picking u up tmrrw morning, b ready

**Puddin at 8:25 PM:** date nite tmrrw nite ;)

Harley beamed, Jay was good at surprises and he knew her so well. Of course he’d make it up to her with something special. She quickly started planning an outfit for the next day, she had to look great.

-

Floyd stretched out in his bed after tossing his phone away from him. Bunch of annoying kids, he thought. But he wanted to graduate, so he’d deal.

He got out of his bed and started pacing, wondering how he was going to bring up the cheating to whoever. It just seemed awkward, especially when Floyd was doing okay in classes. He sighed, running his hand over his face.

He was thinking about trimming his beard when something through the crack in his curtains caught his eye. He narrowed his eyes and walked over to the window. Floyd lived next to another house and unfortunately for him, some higher being decided it’d be great if his window was directly opposite the other house’s window. Some stupid greek god of cliches or something he bet.

He was adamant about having black-out curtains for a reason.

Floyd peered through the opening in his window. The thought of it being mildly creepy crossed his mind but his curiosity won out.

Someone was pacing around the room, some tall, muscular guy who had a goatee- and oh fuck he recognized that flannel.

Floyd’s jaw went slack with surprise and then he grit his teeth, of fucking course he’d live right next to Rick Flag and not realize until this very moment. Plus their windows faced each other. What kind of Taylor Swift music video cliche shit was this? 

He let his head connect with the glass of the window. Might as well tell him, get the awkward stuff out of the way. It’d be weird if it was brought up later and Floyd was like, “Yeah I’ve known for a month.” or whatever.

Floyd retrieved his phone and sent a text to Rick.

-

Rick’s phone beeped. He stopped his pacing, startled. He got his phone from where it was lying on his bed and opened the text.

**Floyd at 8:26 PM:** You should close your curtains.

Rick’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. How did Floyd know his curtains were open? Furthermore, how did Floyd know where he lived?

Rick looked up through his window to the house next door. They had opposite windows, of course they did. Rick offered an awkward, apologetic smile and waved at Floyd.

Floyd gave him a short wave and then disappeared behind his curtains.

Rick heaved a sigh, flopping onto his bed and decided to text his girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen... I heard "You Belong With Me" on the radio the other day and all I got was this image of Floyd and Rick exchanging notes via bedroom windows. Try and tell me that isn't some cute shit.  
> I guess I can probably confirm Rick/Floyd is endgame at this point. Or at least that's the plan.  
> Next chapter the Scooby Gang investigates.  
> If you have any questions lemme know, I want to make sure everything is clear in the writing and I have people read the chapters beforehand but if something doesn't make sense I want to be able to fix it.
> 
> BTW, I like drawing and I plan on drawing stuff for this, particularly scenes that will be in the future or possibly edited. It helps me write. Anyway if you want to see my stuff my art tumblr is geekeater.tumblr.com


	4. Library Hideout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendship begins... and something ends.

Digger's bus ride to school that Thursday was hell. Besides the general shittiness of the bus itself, ripped seats and no air-conditioning, the freshmen in the back were having a fucking wonderful time dry humping and throwing Gatorade bottles at each other. Except five minutes into the ride, Digger had been hit with no less than three of the previously mentioned bottles. So either someone had some really shitty aim or they had a death wish.

Digger slid down in his seat, taking a deep breath to control his rising anger. It didn't help that the air was musty and gross, the bus was several years older than maybe it should have been. 

Just then a bottle came flying at the seat in front of him, only it missed a few inches. It hit the back of the seat and bounced off, directly into Digger's nose.

"Motherfucker!" He yelled, sitting up straight. His sophomore seatmate looked properly terrified at the outburst, as did the other people within hearing range, but the freshmen in the back were snickering. He'd show them. He'd fucking show them.

Taking the bottle that had been thrown at him in one hand, and turning around in his seat, he eyed the back of the bus.

He gave them a steely glare, whoever talked shit first was going to get hit.

"Just because you're an upperclassmen doesn't mean we're scared of you asshole!" Some stupid fucker in the very backseat yelled.

Digger threw the bottle and watched as the freshmen all ducked, except the kid who had spoken up. The bottle whizzed by him, missing by only a small amount. Digger watched as it bounced off the window by the kid.

The little shit had just enough time to look smug before the bottle hit him in the temple. Before the little gremlin had time to talk back Digger started.

"For every goddamn bottle that gets thrown after right now, I promise I will get back at each of you the same amount of times. So sit down and shut the fuck up!" Digger flipped them the bird and then sat back down in his seat.

He counted the bottles that were thrown after that with glee. He looked forward to revenge.

-

Digger walked out of his chemistry class with a smirk and shot off a text while he walked to his next class.

 **Group text from You sent to:** Hottie Quinn, Dick Flag, Crocs, FLOYD?, and Chato

-

 **Digger:** Hey fuckwads I got some info on how people are cheating

 **Rick:** Can we all talk during lunch? Do we all have Lunch A?

 **Harley:** I do!

 **Waylon:** Same

 **Floyd:** Fuck we're really gonna sit at lunch together? Yeah I have Lunch A

 **Chato:** Yeah

 **Digger:** What kind of fuckin coincidence is that

 **Floyd:** I bet Waller planned it. Bitch.

 **Harley:** It would explain why J and I have separate lunch periods... 

 **Rick:** So we meet up where?

 **Floyd:** I refuse to be seen with ya'll in public so

 **Harley:** Library? 

 **Waylon:** Sounds fine

 **Rick:** Okay so we're all agreed?

 **Chato:** K

 **Floyd:** Sure

 **Digger:** Yeah

-

"Mister Harkness, is that a phone I see?" Digger looked up from the group chat, startled.

Everyone turned in their seats to look at him. The teacher held out a hand, her eyebrow raised. Digger rolled his eyes and got up from his seat in the back of the room to hand his phone to her.

"You'll get it back after class." She said, taking it and placing it on her desk.

Once he was properly seated again, she resumed the lecture and the students all turned back around to pay attention.

When the bell finally rung, he bolted from his seat to the desk and after getting a scolding, received his phone. Forgoing a cafeteria lunch for the bag of Hot Cheetos in his backpack, he made his way to the library.

-

Digger arrived at the library last due to his teacher's scolding. He opened the door and found Chato waiting beside it to lead him to a deserted corner of the place where the rest of the group was.

It looked as if they had moved bookshelves to wall off the corner of the room. More privacy, nice.

Digger followed Chato through the gap between the bookshelves into the dim space. Harley sat in a swivel chair, idly spinning while looking at her phone. Floyd was sitting in a regular wooden chair, his feet propped on a table that looked as if it had come from other part of the library. Waylon sat against the wall with two lunch trays by him, he was halfway through a cheeseburger with three more to go. The guy was massive so it was unsurprising he had to eat so much.

Rick was standing to the side, looking conflicted, he turned to Floyd with concern on his face, "Do you really think it's okay for us to move the bookshelves and tables around?"

Floyd gave him a Look, "No one actually uses the library for books. The librarian doesn't care, she's just there to make sure the computer nerds aren't watching porn on the school network."

"Don't they care about the order of everything?"

Harley laughed, "No one gives a fuck about the Dewey Decimal System, Rick!" Rick looked properly put out by this.

Digger cleared his throat and everyone looked at him.

"Okay, I got info if you want to hear." Rick raised his eyebrows expectantly so Digger continued, "So I overheard this guy in my chem class talking about how he boosted his grade with no homework, right? So me, being the suave-" Harley snorted at this. "-guy I am, sidled up to him and asked how I could go about doing the same thing. He gave me this number and phrase to text."

Everyone looked at each other warily. 

"Well, text them." Floyd said.

Digger shrugged and took out his phone.

 **You to Unknown at 12:16 PM:** What goes up when the rain come's down?

"Okay, done." Digger said, pocketing his phone. "What now?"

Rick looked at everyone, "Well we didn't move these bookshelves for nothing, might as well stay here for the rest of lunch."

No one disagreed so Digger pulled out his Hot Cheetos and offered the bag to Chato who eyed them before shrugging and taking a handful.

Harley piped up, "Any of you guys want gum? I just got some new flavors in and friends get gum free." She winked at them.

"You sell gum?" Digger asked, confused. "I thought this school didn't allow it."

"They don't, but I'm the only one who has been able to smuggle it in successfully and consistently." Harley smiled triumphantly.

Chato looked stunned, "Hold up you're The Gum Dealer?"

Harley smile grew wider and she nodded. Digger was fucking confused. A gum dealer? Were people in Gotham High that desperate for gum?

Floyd turned to her, "I'll get in on it, what flavors do you have?"

Digger zoned out as Harley started listing all the stuff she had on her. Sometime after Floyd had decided, Waylon spoke up.

"You guys can call me Croc." His voice was deep, and he seemed almost hesitant.

The group was silent for a moment before Harley ask, "Why do people call you that anyway?"

Croc gave them a fiendish smile, all teeth, "Come to one of my wrestling matches and you'll see. One of my signature moves is based on how crocodiles attack their prey."

Harley's eyes widened, "That's so cool!"

And on it went, they shared tidbits of information about themselves. Chato revealed that his face tattoos were indeed real. Digger explained that up until a few months ago he had been going to Metropolis High School. Rick told them he had a girlfriend who went to a private school an hour away and that he'd just transferred here this semester. Floyd said he was on the rifle team, that he'd never missed a shot. Harley hated her middle name, which was Frances. Croc owned approximately zero pairs of crocs.

When Digger's phone buzzed he almost didn't register it because he was actually having fun.

"Hold up you guys I think they texted back." He took his phone out and read the text aloud.

 **Unknown at 12:43 PM:** Tomorrow at 5:00 PM. Meet behind the abandoned bowling alley. Come alone.

"So we're definitely going to ambush them, right?" Harley said.

Rick nodded, "Definitely." 

Just then the bell rang. Everyone gathered their things and then awkwardly looked at each other. It seemed like no one wanted to leave.

Floyd sighed, "I'm not down for this pansy shit so I'll come out and say it. I had fun."

Rick looked to everyone cautiously, "So should we make this a regular thing?"

Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to speak up first. Harley did.

"Well all my close friends have Lunch B so I'm okay with it." 

After that, everyone gave their confirmation and they all started piling out of their secret corner.

Floyd looked at Rick, who was smiling, "This doesn't mean we're BFFs or some shit, Flag."

Digger laughed as they all exited the library.

-

Later that night, Harley found herself making out with her boyfriend under the stars. Their date night had been wonderful. At the end of the day he had shown up at her last class with roses and then he drove them to the movie theater on his motorcycle. They saw this romantic movie Harley had been dying to see and Jay had held her when she cried at all the sad parts. After that they went to Harley's favorite little diner where Jay had called in their order ahead of time. Then he drove them up to a park where they were currently canoodling.

Nothing could spoil Harley's mood.

Jay pulled away suddenly, "Harls, I want to talk about some stuff."

Harley felt dread pool in her stomach. "Sure. What is it?" She asked, trying to stay positive.

"I'm not spending my summer here in Gotham. My dad is sending me to this behavioral program in Washington or something."

Harley felt relief, he wasn't breaking up with her. Of course, she was still disappointed that she wouldn't see him during the summer. "Well," she said, smiling at him suggestively, "I guess we'll have to make up for lost time."

Jay smirked at the suggestion but then his face turned serious once again, "There's something else. I want you to quit the cheer team."

Harley recoiled from him, "What? Why?" She asked. She could feel anger bubbling up from the confusion. "You know how important it is to me!"

"I know baby, I know. But... Aren't I important to you? I just feels like we don't get enough time together." He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, attempting to soothe her.

Harley didn't stop to think before the words tumbled out of her mouth, "Well maybe if you didn't cancel our dates so often for whatever the hell you do, we could spend more time together!"

Jay's eyes narrowed and his hands stopped moving. Harley swallowed.

"Harley, I just put together this nice date for us. What for? To apologize. Then here you go, yelling at me for asking you something." Jay's grip on her arms tightened.

Harley took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for yelling."

"Thank you." Jay said. "Now back to you quitting the team-"

"I won't quit." Her eyes were cast downward.

"I'm sorry what?" Jay asked. "I don't I heard you right because it sounded to me like you just said you won't quit."

Harley licked her lips and looked up at Jay, "I won't quit. The cheer competitions are my best bet on getting a scholarship. Plus, my friends are on the team."

Jay scoffed. He took a step backward from Harley, removing his hands from her arms. He scoffed again and started cackling, his laughing grew hysterical. Harley watched him, her wariness increasing. Jay stopped laughing abruptly, still bent over. He snapped his head towards Harley and then stood up straight and Harley suddenly remembered how tall Jay was. He looked her in the eyes as he made his way towards her, his steps predatory. Harley stood, frozen in fear.

Jay brought his face level with hers and whispered, "Harley. Don't you love me?" His expression seemed confused, sad, heartbroken.

She nodded.

"Then why won't you do this itty bitty thing for me?" He asked.

Harley's throat burned the way it did when she was about to cry. She fought it.

"It isn't itty bitty. I love cheer." She said.

"Well you can't have both."

Harley's world felt like it was crumbling. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Jay pulled away from her and started towards his motorcycle. Harley watched him, too stunned to move.

"Jay?" He swung a leg over the bike. "Jay? Are you?!"

He picked up his helmet and looked at her, "Maybe we need some time apart so you can see what you'll miss more." He then put his helmet on, started the bike, and left.

Harley was still frozen, watching him grow smaller as he drove away. Her body felt cold. It took her ten minutes of staring into space to fully process the fact that she had just been dumped and left at a park. It was 9 PM on a Thursday night.

Her hands trembled as she pulled out her phone. She didn't trust herself not to break down if she tried to talk, so text it was. Couldn't text Ivy, she was busy on Thursday nights. Selina had a date with someone tonight. Her parents were at a dinner party.

 **You to Floyd(lmao) at 9:04 PM:** I'm stuck at the park with no way home. I'm sorry to ask but can you come?

 **Floyd(lmao) at 9:06 PM:** Sounds like you've had a rough night. Which park?

-

Floyd pulled into the parking lot and watched as Harley got into the passenger seat. She looked like hell.

"You want to talk about about it?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Okay, dollface." He said. She smiled softly at the name and he reminded himself to use it later.

He stopped by a McDonalds and bought two vanilla cones. When Harley started to protest he turned to her and said, "Okay listen, I am not good at talking emotions. But ice cream seems to cheers people up. So take the damn ice cream."

She took the ice cream.

When he dropped her off she quietly thanked him and before he could stop her, she shoved some money into his hand.

"At least let me pay you back." She said, and then exited the vehicle.

Floyd waited until she made it inside of the house and then made his way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay straight up it made me feel gross writing all that Jay dialogue.  
> But now he's out of the way so #squad can get down to BUSINESS  
> I may or may not have hinted at who the villain(s) are for this round......... ;) ;) ;) care to guess?  
> The library secret base is gonna be returning lmao.
> 
> (please comment I feed off of ur comments lmao,,,)


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